Mali.aria

This is an article I found that talks about how malaria affects Mali. CLICK HERE A totally treatable disease takes over 100,000 lives in Mali alone. I really hope some of you guys come and visit us in Mali when we move there. It just really opens your eyes in a way that no writing or pictures ever can.

Ten Things (first draft)

Ten things to do before I die
not yet in any particular order

1. Speak French fluently.
2. Speak Bambara fluently.
3. Make a deeply moving, professional quality, God-glorifying documentary film.
4. Be a missionary to Mali.
5. Leave a legacy of committed disciples in Mali.
6. See all my children commit their lives to Christ.
7. See grandchildren and great grandchildren serving Christ.
8. Publish my work in National Geographic. (a cover shot would be pretty nice too.)
9. Adopt children.
10. Pay off my student loans.

other possible alternates
Learn to really play the guitar, kora, and balafone (West African instruments)
Climb a few of the 14s
Write a book
Publish my autobiography or biography
Dance like no one's looking

cast your votes and make your own lists

Journalism in Mali

CLICK HERE for more BBC stories on Mali. This link is time sensitive because news is a living thing. So check it out soon. There are three video stories: one about a hostage situation and a Malian bride, one about a job center in Mali, and one about the poor treatment of journalists in Mali.

Street Scene in Mali

We got this video from some of our really good friends in Mali, Ben and Brenda. Brenda was Heidi's roommate in high school and college, and now they are missionaries in Mali.
Their video is of some kids in the street doing tumbling. It's always amazing to me how resourceful kids are. We can't wait to get out there with Ben and Brenda! They're a ton of fun!

Mali: Land of Mystery 002

I found some good Mali videos at National Geographic. If you click on the title of this post you can watch the videos. or Click Here
There are four videos. It amazes me how much parts of Mali have remained unchanged for hundreds of years. On a spiritual level it reminded me of the Bozo people of Mali. There are around 150,000 Bozos (stifle your laughs), and 84% of them have never even heard the good news about what Jesus has done for them. How is that possible? They don't live in some unreachable location. Pray for them.

It's hard to stay close if you don't understand life your friend is living. We probably won't live in Mali until 2010 (dates like that should only be in sci-fi movies). But we want you to know about the place that we're in love with. So CLICK HERE to get a quick overview of Mali by BBC.

Mali: Land of Mystery

So... you all probably know that this is a manatee. But I bet you didn't know that they have manatees in Mali! I couldn't believe it when I read about it. Apparently, you can find fresh water manatees in the Niger River, which spends a large part of its distance in Mali.
The picture above is not of African manatees. In fact, I couldn't really find a picture of one. There was a picture of an African manatee in a Japanese aquarium, but even that was a terrible picture.
So I'm thinking I'll do the first thorough photographic study of the African manatee. National Geographic here I come! Okay, so the Niger River also has hippos and crocodiles... So I'll probably get an "assistant" (that's what you call it in the professional photography business), give him my camera, tell him to swim out into the murky Niger, and take the credit for the photos after he's risked life and limb.
Of course, I would never do this even though it is considered totally legitimate in the magazine photography world. No joke.